What’s Next for the X-Men Movie Franchise?

“Hugh Jackman” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

Standing apart from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the X-Men series of movies has been an overwhelming success for Marvel and the rights owner, Fox. Bone-rattling action and beloved super-characters are always a bankable combination, a point in evidence in the popularity of the Avengers series.

The appeal of the X-Men franchise goes even beyond comics and movies, though. For example, there are a fair few video games based on Marvel’s mutants, from the 1989 NES classic, The Uncanny X-Men, to the critically-panned X-Men Destiny, which graced last-gen consoles. There’s also quite a large market for X-Men slot machines, given the number of casino websites that carry them.

It’s no surprise; movie and video game characters are an easy source of inspiration for casino games. Even developers that create their own titles in-house – like mFortune – lean on pop culture themes. The Ghostbusters-inspired Buster Ghost, for example, a 5-reel, 15-winline slot machine, is available exclusively at mFortune.

Movies and comics remain at the heart of the X-Men series, though. With the war against the Inhumans taking over three of the X-Men comics (All-New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Extraordinary X-Men) this January, let’s take a look at how Hollywood’s version of the characters might develop over the next few years.

Wolverine

A seismic change will arrive almost immediately in this year’s Logan, a gloomy film that’s similar in premise to Frank Miller’s seminal The Dark Knight Returns novel; it’s the story of Professor X and an older Wolverine in a world gone wrong. It will also be Hugh Jackman’s final outing as the brooding antihero.

Sadly, as far as the likes of Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and Professor X are concerned, Logan may well set the tone for the movie franchise’s immediate future. Michael Fassbender, who plays the current iteration of Magneto, intimated that the rebooted timeline may have ended with 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, when he said, “I have no idea what’s happening with the franchise”.

The above is consistent with developments in the wider MCU. Robert Downey Jr.’s retirement from the Iron Man role, the multi-part Infinity War movies, and the currently vacant Captain America role (a plot point, admittedly) suggests that the Avengers are approaching a reboot too.

“Michael Fassbender” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

Supernovas

Perhaps the strongest evidence for a restart of the X-Men franchise is that the working title of the next film is Supernovas. A real comic book story, the X-Men in the Supernovas canon is led by Rogue and includes morally questionable characters like Mystique, Sabretooth, and Iceman. Cable, the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey, also features.

However, at such an early stage in the film’s development – filming begins in March 2017 – it may well be a working title with no significance.

Of course, the X-Men canon is far larger than money-spinners like Wolverine, and future films are likely to explore beyond the central cast. For example, a film about The New Mutants, a band of younger X-Men that includes Blink, Warpath, and Sunspot (from X-Men Apocalypse), as well as confirmed characters Cannonball, Wolfsbane, and Magik, was greenlit in 2015.

Finally, despite the relative failure of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, solo outings aren’t going away for members of the X-canon. Deadpool has two sequels in the works, while the long-overdue movie about Remy Etienne LeBeau – otherwise known as Gambit – began filming late last year. The latter film’s progress has been piecemeal though, with director Doug Liman recently jumping ship to DC for the planned Justice League: Dark movie.